Toshiba Corp. has reportedly designed a nuclear reactor and intends to market it to natural resource developers for mining Tar Sands in Canada and other places. Nikkei reported this week that the company had completed design of a small 10,000kw reactor and had asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for approval to begin construction in the United States, but the process had been delayed in connection with a meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. The company also planned to seek approval from Canadian authorities. Toshiba’s planned reactor would not need to be refueled for up to 30 years. Additional uses could included turning saltwater into freshwater and powering small communities in frontier areas like northern Alaska.

Nehmen wir nur CourseSmart, den unangefochtenen Branchenführer bei Lehrbüchern und Unterrichtsmaterial in digitalisierter Form. Dieses Unternehmen, 2007 von Pearson und McGraw-Hill Education und anderen Verlagsgiganten gegründet, hat über zwanzigtausend elektronische Lehrbücher im Angebot, das sind etwa 90 Prozent aller in Nordamerika verwendeten Lehrbücher. Diese Texte können online und offline am Computer, auf Tablets oder Smartphones gelesen werden. CourseSmart verfolgt globale Ambitionen. Wie kürzlich bekanntgegeben wurde, expandiert das Unternehmen in den Nahen Osten und nach Afrika, so dass seine Produkte auch in Ländern wie Saudi-Arabien und Zimbabwe erhältlich sind. Anfang November wurde seine jüngste Innovation namens CourseSmart Analytics vorgestellt, ein Trackingsystem, mit dessen Hilfe verfolgt werden kann, wie lange sich Studenten auf jeder Seite eines elektronischen Buchs aufhalten, welche Kapitel sie überspringen, welche Passagen ihnen Mühe bereiten und so weiter. Aus all diesen Informationen wird für jeden Studenten ein „Engagement Score“ ermittelt, den Dozenten abrufen können.

Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, will announce Tuesday a plan to hire every veteran who wants a job, provided that the veterans have left the military in the previous year and did not receive a dishonorable discharge. Company officials said they believe the program, which will officially begin on Memorial Day — May 27 this year — will lead to the hiring of more than 100,000 people in the next five years, the length of the commitment.  “Let’s be clear: Hiring a veteran can be one of the best decisions any of us can make,” Mr. Simon will say in his keynote speech to the National Retail Federation, according to prepared text. “These are leaders with discipline, training and a passion for service.”

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, a government behavioral health agency) issued a report on Friday that called energy drinks "a continuing public health concern." Yes, energy drinks like Red Bull, 5-Hour Energy, Monster, Full Throttle, CHARGE!, Neurogasm, Hardcore Energize Bullet, Facedrink, Eruption, Crakshot, Crave, Crunk, DynaPep, Rage Inferno, SLAP, and even good old Venom Death Adder.  Energy drinks are not-uncommonly used along with alcohol and other drugs, so SAMHSA (say it aloud once, it's calming) makes the distinction that, of the 20,783 ED visits in 2011, 58 percent involved energy drinks alone; the remaining also involved other drugs.

Over the past few years, as many people rushed to trade in their old phones for smartphones, Japan's philanderers have remained faithful to one particular brand: Fujitsu Ltd.'s older "F-Series" phones, which feature some attractive stealth privacy features. The aging flip-phone—nicknamed the "uwaki keitai" or "infidelity phone"—owes its enduring popularity to customers who don't believe newer smartphones are as discreet at hiding their illicit romances. Fujitsu's "privacy mode" is a layer of nearly invisible security that hides missed calls, emails and text messages from contacts designated as private. If one of those acquaintances gets in touch, the only signal of that communication is a subtle change in the color or shape of how the battery sign or antenna bars are displayed. If ignored, the call doesn't appear in the phone log. "If Tiger Woods had this Japanese feature in his phone, he wouldn't have gotten in trouble," said Mr. Natsuno, now a professor at Keio University's Graduate School of Media and Governance.

Three children alone -- General Wang’s son, Wang Jun; Deng’s son-in-law, He Ping; and Chen Yuan, the son of Mao’s economic tsar -- headed or still run state-owned companies with combined assets of about $1.6 trillion in 2011. That is equivalent to more than a fifth of China’s annual economic output.

Samsung draws the greatest scrutiny because it is by far the largest chaebol — the Korean term for corporate groups that were jump-started with government support — and because it is wildly prosperous as the rest of the economy slows down. The conglomerate contributes roughly a fifth of South Korea’s gross domestic product. Some Koreans call the country “The Republic of Samsung.”

Insofern kommt gelegen, dass die QTA vier Jahre lang pro Saison zwischen 150 und 200 Millionen Euro für die Trikotwerbung zahlen will. Weil die Pariser Brust damit aber weit mehr wert wäre als die der Spieler von Barcelona, Madrid und Manchester United zusammen und sich selbst bei einer Dreingabe der Namensrechte am Stadion nicht von einem angemessenen Marktpreis sprechen ließe, hat sich die Klubführung etwas einfallen lassen, um dem Vorwurf der Unverhältnismäßigkeit vorzubeugen.

Die Regierungsfraktionen SPD und CDU haben den Beschluss des Senats, den RWE-Anteil an den Berliner Wasserbetrieben für  654 Mio. Euro zurückzukaufen, am 24.Oktober in den Ausschüssen des Abgeordnetenhauses durchgewinkt.  Die angebliche „Rekommunalisierung“ sehe vor, "dass alle offenkundigen Fehler von damals zementiert und neue draufgesattelt werden: Der verfassungsumgehende Konsortialvertrag bleibt bestehen, RWE wird der Rückzug vergoldet, der andere Privatpartner, Veolia, bleibt und wird mit der berüchtigten Gewinngarantie weiter bedient. Veolia kann trotz Ausscheidens von RWE weiter die  - verfassungswidrige - betriebliche Führung durchsetzen, die Preismissbrauchsverfügung des Bundeskartellamtes wird hintertrieben." Und zahlen sollen die Zeche wie immer die Berliner Wasserkunden. „Was ist von einer Rekommunalisierung zu halten, die eine vorübergehende Absenkung der Trinkwasserpreise als Erfolg ausgibt?“, kommentiert Wassertisch-Sprecherin Ulrike von Wiesenau. „Die Tarifsenkung bleibt weit hinter den Forderungen des Bundeskartellamts zurück und lässt die Abwassertarife, die auf den Rechnungen der meisten Kunden weit mehr ins Gewicht fallen, unangetastet", ergänzt Ulrike Kölver.

Mindestgage wäre das mindeste - deutsche Dokumentarfilmer sind das Prekariat des Fernsehens. Eine neue Studie macht die ganze Misere deutlich: Viele können von ihrer Arbeit kaum leben. Demnach verdienen etwa Dokumentarfilmregisseure im Schnitt 1380 Euro netto im Monat, rund achtzehn Prozent der für die Studie befragten liegen sogar unter dem zu versteuernden Minimum von 636 Euro netto im Monat. Nur fünfzehn Prozent der Dokumentarfilmer können von ihrer Arbeit leben, alle anderen verdienen Geld in anderen Jobs und sind auf finanzielle Unterstützung angewiesen. Weniger geht nicht.

A 2009 survey by Trend Monitor, a market-research firm, suggested that one in five women in Seoul had gone under the knife. [...] There are seven times more buttock operations in Brazil than the top-25 country average, and five times more vaginal rejuvenations. In Greece, penis enlargements are performed ten times more often than the average.

In any sensible world, when researchers are conducting trials on a new tablet for a drug company, for example, we'd expect universal contracts, making it clear that all researchers are obliged to publish their results, and that industry sponsors – which have a huge interest in positive results – must have no control over the data. But, despite everything we know about industry-funded research being systematically biased, this does not happen. In fact, the opposite is true: it is entirely normal for researchers and academics conducting industry-funded trials to sign contracts subjecting them to gagging clauses that forbid them to publish, discuss or analyse data from their trials without the permission of the funder.

Except for those few stones that have been destroyed, every diamond that has been found and cut into a jewel still exists today and is literally in the public's hands. Some hundred million women wear diamonds, while millions of others keep them in safe-deposit boxes or strongboxes as family heirlooms. It is conservatively estimated that the public holds more than 500 million carats of gem diamonds, which is more than fifty times the number of gem diamonds produced by the diamond cartel in any given year. Since the quantity of diamonds needed for engagement rings and other jewelry each year is satisfied by the production from the world's mines, this half-billion-carat supply of diamonds must be prevented from ever being put on the market. The moment a significant portion of the public begins selling diamonds from this inventory, the price of diamonds cannot be sustained. For the diamond invention to survive, the public must be inhibited from ever parting with its diamonds.

Nike Inc. is raising the prices of its sneakers, assuming that the brand's cachet will carry it through a period when many of its shoppers are scrounging for discounts. As labor, materials and shipping costs increase, Nike is raising shoe and clothing prices by 5% to 10%, analysts say. A test of the approach comes this fall, when Nike will debut its priciest sneaker yet—an expected $315 LeBron James basketball shoe that includes its own electronics. The price leaps come after Nike's gross margins dropped to 42.8% from 44.3% in its most recent quarter ending May 31, the sixth-straight year-to-year quarterly decline. Nike's margins are now lower than most of its direct competitors, rival Adidas AG and apparel maker Under Armour Inc. Nike isn't the only sneaker maker asking customers to pay more. Adidas's signature three-striped Superstar shoes now cost $70, nearly 8% more than a year ago. Overall basketball shoe prices were up 9.4% compared with a year before as of June, according to market researcher NPD Group Inc., while soccer cleats jumped 15.5% and running shoes climbed 5.5%.

Sometimes, as in the case with three men busted recently in New Jersey, recyclers will allegedly form a front business ("Metro Paper Inc.") to support their cardboard ring. A favored tactic of this particular heist squad, according to the authorities, was to back their vehicles up to stores while pretending to be licensed haulers. With nobody on the loading docks apparently questioning their authority, they're suspected to have made off with 900 tons of cardboard in just three months this year, a weight that represents $103,000 in free money.

The company got its start in 2007 as StatSheet, which generates news stories from raw feeds of play-by-play data from major sports events. The company generates advertising on its own website and is now beginning to sell its services to other organizations for sports and real estate news. “Over the next 12 to 24 months, every media property will need some automation strategy,” Frederick told AFP. To mimic the effect of the hometown newspaper, the company generates articles with a different “tonality” depending on the reader’s preference or location. “If it’s not in the data, we can’t say anything about it. We’re very aware of that, but more of what goes on is data-driven,” Hammond said.

MP3s are so natural to the Internet now that it’s almost hard to imagine a time before high-quality compressed music. But there was such a time—and even after "MP3" entered the mainstream, organizing, ripping, and playing back one's music collection remained a clunky and frustrating experience. Enter Winamp, the skin-able, customizable MP3 player that "really whips the llama's ass." In the late 1990s, every music geek had a copy; llama-whipping had gone global, and the big-money acquisition offers quickly followed. AOL famously acquired the company in June 1999 for $80-$100 million—and Winamp almost immediately lost its innovative edge.

Private companies will be running large parts of the UK's police service within five years, according to the world's biggest security firm. The prediction comes as it emerged that 10 more police forces were considering outsourcing deals that would see services, such as running police cells and operating IT, run by private firms. Taylor-Smith, whose company is in the running for the £1.5bn contract with West Midlands and Surrey police, said he expected forces across the country to have taken similar steps within five years . "For most members of the public what they will see is the same or better policing and they really don't care who is running the fleet, the payroll or the firearms licensing – they don't really care," he said.

But the future of the business may be methamphetamine. During the 1990s, when the market for meth exploded in the United States, new regulations made it more difficult to manufacture large quantities of the drug in this country. This presented an opportunity that the Sinaloa quickly exploited. According to Anabel Hernández, author of “Los Señores del Narco,” a book about the cartel, it was one of Chapo’s deputies, a trafficker named Ignacio (Nacho) Coronel, who first spotted the massive potential of methamphetamine. “Nacho was like Steve Jobs,” Hernández told me. “He saw the future.”

If Facebook were a country, a conceit that founder Mark Zuckerberg has entertained in public, its 900 million members would make it the third largest in the world. It would far outstrip any regime past or present in how intimately it records the lives of its citizens. Private conversations, family photos, and records of road trips, births, marriages, and deaths all stream into the company's servers and lodge there. Facebook has collected the most extensive data set ever assembled on human social behavior.

Then there's "Girls Gone Bitcoin." In this reddit subforum [...], women post naked pictures of themselves along with Bitcoin addresses, in hopes of receiving tips. [...] Andresen calls this "the high-tech equivalent of putting a dollar in a G-string."

This is the state of our military-industrial-scientific complex in miniature: The military has so much money that it has two extra telescopes better than anything civilians have; meanwhile, NASA will need eight years to find enough change in the couches at Cape Canaveral to turn these gifts into something they can use.

My brief, backbreaking, rage-inducing, low-paying, dildo-packing time inside the online-shipping machine.

That was about two years ago, and ever since, he's been buying an average of 300 names a day and selling them through his company, DomainMarket.com. That business, he said, brings in about $400,000 a month.